


Rex? Manning

by zaffrenotes



Series: Serendipity - TRR College AU [1]
Category: The Royal Romance (Visual Novel)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-08
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:15:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25995082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zaffrenotes/pseuds/zaffrenotes
Summary: Post-Serendipity AU Series; just a bit of funny friendship fluff with Liam, Drake, and MC (Katrina)
Relationships: Liam - Relationship, Liam/Main Character (The Royal Romance)
Series: Serendipity - TRR College AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1886719
Kudos: 1





	Rex? Manning

“Li, it’s an emergency! You gotta help me! I—” The sharp cry of an infant pierced through the speaker, and Liam pulled his ear away as he listened to his friend’s frantic voicemail. He laughed softly as he heard Drake on the other end of the line, attempting to quiet the infant, failing miserably, and then there was a rustling noise as he grabbed for the phone again. “Ugh, just…please, man, I know you’re probably hanging out with Katrina and..y’know what, bring her! I—” Drake paused in the message again and Liam heard squeaks in the message, and then more crying. “I’m at the park on Morningside Drive and west 113th. Guys, help me. Help me help me help me.”

Liam laughed again and pocketed his phone. Katrina gave him a curious look, her brows raising as she twitched up one side of her mouth into a small grin. “What’s up?” She finished pouring his recovery shake in a Nalgene bottle and made quick work of cleaning the blender before removing her apron and waving at the manager behind the counter.

“Seems we need to help Drake with…something,” Liam replied, shaking his head. “I don’t even know what we’re going to find when we get there, but he’s at the park on Morningside and 113th.”

“ooookay,” Katrina responded. Liam paused for a beat and turned back to look at her, extending his hand back for hers. She laced her fingers with his as he leaned down, and their lips came together for a brief kiss before they started making their way uptown.

.:.

Katrina and Liam emerged from the station at 116th Street and hurried over to the cross streets Drake mentioned in his message, scanning the small number of people in the park for him. Katrina nearly doubled over with laughter when she spotted him first, awkwardly holding an infant like it was more bomb than baby. She pointed in his direction, waving Liam off to go ahead of her as she regained her composure.

Liam tried to pull his face together into a calm expression as he walked over to Drake, but the infant in his hands started wailing again. Drake’s eyes went wide as he attempted to set the baby in a carrier, sighing with relief as he caught sight of Liam. Liam grinned at his friend as Drake fumbled with buckles and straps. “What…what are you doing with a baby?”

“Can you help me with this?” Drake asked, his voice laced with frustration. Liam knelt down and nudged him aside, lifting the baby boy out of the carrier as he cried. “It’s Professor Manning’s kid.”

Liam sat down on the grass, crossing his legs in front of him, and held the baby in his lap. He loosely wrapped his arms around the boy, holding him upright against his chest, and soon the crying stopped. “D’you have a pacifier in that bag somewhere?” Drake searched the compartments of the bag and pulled out a pacifier, handing it to Liam; he popped it into the baby’s mouth and felt the infant relax into his arms. “So…” he started again, letting the baby wrap his tiny fingers around his index finger, “…what’re you doing with a baby? By yourself?”

Katrina sat down next to Liam in the grass, setting her bag down before beaming a huge smile at the baby in Liam’s arms. Without looking away, she chimed in with an upbeat voice. “Yes Drake, tell us why you’re alone at a park with an adorable little baby! Yes you are, you’re adorable!” She lightly brushed her finger against the baby’s cheek, and he giggled in response.

“How are you even…” Drake paused to scratch his head, rubbing the back of his neck for good measure. “Not even a minute with the kid and he’s completely fine around you two. I swear he hates me.” Katrina and Liam glanced over at Drake, waiting for an answer to their question. “I was talking to Manning after class and next thing I know, she gets a call that her nanny has some kind of emergency and can’t watch the kid and I offered to look after him for the afternoon. She said all he does is eat, sleep, and poop and I thought…how difficult could it be, he’s a tiny baby!”

Liam handed off the baby to Katrina, who was cradling him in her arms and sniffing the top of his head. “What’s this precious boy’s name?” she cooed.

“I’ve been calling him Rex,” Drake answered. Katrina and Liam looked at him again, both their jaws slack with disbelief.

“Please tell me that’s not really his name,” Katrina said quietly.

“I think it’s Raydan? Remy? Robert? Definitely starts with an R.”

“Y—” Liam started, then shook his head. “You don’t know the name of your professor’s kid?” He reached over for the diaper bag and started rifling through it for something that might be embroidered or labeled with the child’s name. After a few seconds he sighed and looked at Drake, then Katrina. “His name is Ryan.”

“Okay, so out of the goodness of your whiskey-infused heart, you willingly offered to babysit? I don’t buy it.” Katrina looked over at Drake and arched her brow.

“Well, y’know, **the ladies love a guy who’s good with kids** ,” he answered, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand again.

Katrina giggled and looked down at the baby once more, cooing at him as she addressed Drake. “I see no ladies here, do you little guy? Where are all these ladies that Drake says were supposed to come flocking because of you?”

“I hoped that Liv would spend the afternoon with me and help me watch the kid, but she took one look at him and walked away in the other direction. She won’t even answer my calls until I’m done babysitting.” Drake scowled at Liam and Katrina as they burst into laughter next to him.

“Let’s test something.” Katrina adjusted her hold on baby Ryan and held him up so he faced her friends. She held him in front of Liam, who smiled at Ryan. Ryan’s face lit up and he spit out the pacifier to mirror Liam’s smile, Liam reaching out to catch the pacifier before it landed in the grass. Then she pointed the baby at Drake, who gave him a sheepish smile, and Ryan’s lip quivered as he made a little noise, squirming uncomfortably in Katrina’s arms. She pointed him back at Liam and he settled down again. She started laughing as Liam put the pacifier back in the baby’s mouth.

“That’s so wrong, that’s…that’s just mean,” Drake sighed. “Guys, please, don’t leave me with him. I only have to watch him for…” Drake paused and bent his arm, glancing down at his watch. “Another hour. Stay?”

Katrina held the baby up so he was in a sitting position on her knee, and Liam reached over to take him, smiling and making faces to draw a few giggles from Ryan. “We’ll stay, we wouldn’t want to traumatize the little guy,” Liam chuckled. “Has he eaten? Been changed?”

“Changed him an hour ago, and he’s actually due for a bottle,” Drake answered. He started fixing a bottle of formula out of the diaper bag. Liam held the baby loosely against his chest again, before Katrina crept over and showed him how to cradle him in his arms. Drake handed Liam a bib and a bottle; Katrina tucked the bib under the baby’s chin, and Ryan stretched his hands out at the bottle as Liam held it steady. The three of them sat there in the grass quietly, taking in the sounds of the city around them on the warm spring day.

“You were right about one thing,” Katrina murmured quietly. A small grin spread across her lips as she dropped a hand to the ground, leaning against her arm as she watched Liam.

“What’s that?” Drake asked.

“Ladies _definitely_ love a guy that’s good with kids,” she replied, jutting her chin out.

Drake looked over his shoulder in the direction Katrina motioned at, letting out an exasperated sigh before rolling his eyes. “Of course. Of friggin course,” he sighed. Several yards away, a small group of girls had formed, giggling and smiling to one another as they looked on at Liam.


End file.
